KTM 390 Adventure
Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2020 6:53 pm
Not mine, but I had one as a loan bike while mine (790 duke) as being fixed.
What a hoot, I managed around 120 miles around the mud,damp, slimy roads in the Chilterns. I am not especially fast or especially good and the £1000 excess, had me even more nervous than usual.
I really wanted to try the adventure thing to see if it would help alleviate my back pain.
I just got handed the keys and got told to go. First event of the day was trying to get it started. Unlike the 790, you actually need to press a separate starter switch. On the 790, the starter switch is incorporated into the kill switch. So after pressing the red button and not a dicky bird, I paid a bit more attention and noticed the starter switch. Press button, it short of shakes itself awake and settles down to a pleasant burble.
The switchgear is the same as the 790, and it felt a bit more substantial than on my bike, which was odd. The dash was pretty nice, fairly large and easy to see, although I wished the speedo reading was larger. Can't remember much more, other than it had traction control and it was switched to road. Mirrors are lovely and work a treat but make filtering a bit more difficult.
The riding position was spot on for me, as was the seat height. Everything literally fell to hand and foot. Clutch was light and the throttle didn't seem to have too much slack and felt OK. I can't remember if its a cable throttle or not. There seems to be a central GPS mount integrated in the front screen frame and a big 12V output just behind the bars.
Front suspension had some adjustability as I spotted some levers under the handlebars but didn't play with them.
Bike had about 850 miles on the ODO and by the time I got it back it its was up to around 970.
The route was basically from Heathrow to On Yer Bike and back. Took the M40 to Beaconsfield, then to Great Missenden, Princes Risborough and On Yer Bike. I wasn't quite sure of the roads but there were loads of small lanes involved as I just turned off if I spotted something interesting and let waze do the rest.
The standard tires felt good and there was no slip sliding around, although I was not pressing on. The single front brake disc worked as well as I could have expected but it had a weird sound when lightly applied. Rear brake worked OK, but there was no much feel to it. I liked the fact it comes with cast wheels (front 19 and rear 17 I think) so no tubes issues etc and they are fairly narrow.
The gearbox was OK, I missed the QS. However, when going into 1 from a standstill, I could not always feel the engagement and had to look down to see if was still in neutral or had got into 1.
Although the engine is a single pot, 390 (doh!) it had enough vroom for the conditions and my ability. Cruised ok on the A roads at around 70 but on the motorway at similar speeds seemed to wander about the place. I didn't think it was that windy today. Screen worked ok, in that I did not notice any buffeting.
It was just fun riding the little thing around the lanes not going too quickly but a bit more quicker than bimbling. As the roads dried, I went a bit faster and never felt I needed more power when riding on the smaller roads. However on the A roads, overtaking needed more thought (and power) and in the end I decided actually going slower was no bad thing and no less fun. It was just fun, cracking on, without having to worry much about applying too much throttle or worrying about how fast I was going.
In the summer, on drier roads, and being less cautious, might show up some shortcomings, but hell for a winter bike it rocked.
Getting on my 790 duke, I felt all creased up, but did notice the smoothness and more power and if the rumoured 490 twin is a reality, it may prove to be the ideal. I am now wondering how the Honda 500 adv compares to this.
I did sit on a 790 Adv and it felt OK and it would seem the logical thing to do, but I don't like tubed tires (yes, its all in my head re punctures etc) and I am not going to be going off-road. I wonder if KTM will do a more road orientated 890 Adv, like Triumph do with their range.
Anyway, super bike, who knows maybe I shall get one one day.
What a hoot, I managed around 120 miles around the mud,damp, slimy roads in the Chilterns. I am not especially fast or especially good and the £1000 excess, had me even more nervous than usual.
I really wanted to try the adventure thing to see if it would help alleviate my back pain.
I just got handed the keys and got told to go. First event of the day was trying to get it started. Unlike the 790, you actually need to press a separate starter switch. On the 790, the starter switch is incorporated into the kill switch. So after pressing the red button and not a dicky bird, I paid a bit more attention and noticed the starter switch. Press button, it short of shakes itself awake and settles down to a pleasant burble.
The switchgear is the same as the 790, and it felt a bit more substantial than on my bike, which was odd. The dash was pretty nice, fairly large and easy to see, although I wished the speedo reading was larger. Can't remember much more, other than it had traction control and it was switched to road. Mirrors are lovely and work a treat but make filtering a bit more difficult.
The riding position was spot on for me, as was the seat height. Everything literally fell to hand and foot. Clutch was light and the throttle didn't seem to have too much slack and felt OK. I can't remember if its a cable throttle or not. There seems to be a central GPS mount integrated in the front screen frame and a big 12V output just behind the bars.
Front suspension had some adjustability as I spotted some levers under the handlebars but didn't play with them.
Bike had about 850 miles on the ODO and by the time I got it back it its was up to around 970.
The route was basically from Heathrow to On Yer Bike and back. Took the M40 to Beaconsfield, then to Great Missenden, Princes Risborough and On Yer Bike. I wasn't quite sure of the roads but there were loads of small lanes involved as I just turned off if I spotted something interesting and let waze do the rest.
The standard tires felt good and there was no slip sliding around, although I was not pressing on. The single front brake disc worked as well as I could have expected but it had a weird sound when lightly applied. Rear brake worked OK, but there was no much feel to it. I liked the fact it comes with cast wheels (front 19 and rear 17 I think) so no tubes issues etc and they are fairly narrow.
The gearbox was OK, I missed the QS. However, when going into 1 from a standstill, I could not always feel the engagement and had to look down to see if was still in neutral or had got into 1.
Although the engine is a single pot, 390 (doh!) it had enough vroom for the conditions and my ability. Cruised ok on the A roads at around 70 but on the motorway at similar speeds seemed to wander about the place. I didn't think it was that windy today. Screen worked ok, in that I did not notice any buffeting.
It was just fun riding the little thing around the lanes not going too quickly but a bit more quicker than bimbling. As the roads dried, I went a bit faster and never felt I needed more power when riding on the smaller roads. However on the A roads, overtaking needed more thought (and power) and in the end I decided actually going slower was no bad thing and no less fun. It was just fun, cracking on, without having to worry much about applying too much throttle or worrying about how fast I was going.
In the summer, on drier roads, and being less cautious, might show up some shortcomings, but hell for a winter bike it rocked.
Getting on my 790 duke, I felt all creased up, but did notice the smoothness and more power and if the rumoured 490 twin is a reality, it may prove to be the ideal. I am now wondering how the Honda 500 adv compares to this.
I did sit on a 790 Adv and it felt OK and it would seem the logical thing to do, but I don't like tubed tires (yes, its all in my head re punctures etc) and I am not going to be going off-road. I wonder if KTM will do a more road orientated 890 Adv, like Triumph do with their range.
Anyway, super bike, who knows maybe I shall get one one day.
Need to find one to sit on as most of the adventures are a bit tall for me!! LOL